Band leader Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister spoke of his high regard of Motörhead’s various line-ups, calling them “all classic”, exclusively in one of his final interviews. Speaking to eonmusic at the Classic Rock Awards in London, the bassist appeared frail, but in good spirits.

By Eamon O'Neill on 31 December 2015.​Bandleader Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister spoke of his high regard of Motörhead’s various line-ups, calling them “all classic”, in what would turn out to be one of his final interviews.

Motörhead, who were formed in 1975, went through numerous personnel changes during their forty-year tenure.Lead singer Lemmy, who unexpectedly passed away on 28th Dec 2015, made the comments while speaking exclusively to Gigs And Festivals at the Classic Rock Awards, which took place in London on the 11th Nov 2015.

The icon, aged 70, died just two days after learning that he was battling an undisclosed“aggressive” form of cancer. The news came only days after he had celebrated his birthday, on the 24th Dec 2015.

Speaking to Gigs And Festivals on the red carpet at the Classic Rock ‘Roll Of Honour’, the singer appeared frail but was none the less in high spirits.

Responding to the question of whether there was any end of the road in sight for Motörhead, he replied in typically buoyant bullish fashion, saying simply; “I dunno, ask me when I’m dead”.

Asked if there was anything left that he’d still like to achieve with the band, he replied with tongue in cheek that; “to be number one in India” was still on his list.

When pressed if ‘Bad Magic’ – Motörhead's 2015 release – would be the one to do it, the former Hawkwind bassist shrugged and continued; “well it got us to number twenty-two in the [United] States, and that’s all right”.

Going on to praise Motörhead’s dedicated fan base, Lemmy was forthcoming, saying; “our fans are great, and they’re loyal. We’ve had bad years, and we’ve had good years, and we did them all for them.”

However Motörhead’s alumni – which includes drummer Phil ‘Filthy Animal’ Taylor, who passed away earlier this year, and guitarist Würzel, who died in 2011 – also came in for commendation.

It was when asked about whether the band’s most recent line-up of guitarist Phil Campbell and drummer Mikkey Dee was sometimes overlooked that Lemmy said that all of the band’s line-ups had been special; “ah no. Every line-up is a classic line-up in that time”, he said affirmatively.

Meanwhile, a number of Facebook groups have sprung up in support of getting Motörhead a U.K. Number 1 single. Fans are being urged to download the band’s anthemic ‘Ace Of Spades’ in a tribute to Lemmy, starting on the 1st Jan 2016.​First published on gigsandfestivals.com, 31 December 2015. ​